US close: Stocks finish lower after slew of data
Wall Street trading closed below the waterline on Tuesday, as investors digested a number of data points.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.71% at 32,656.70, as the S&P 500 lost 0.3% to 3,970.15 and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.1% weaker at 11,455.54.
The Dow closed 232.39 points lower on Tuesday, easily reversing gains recorded in the previous session as Treasury yields eased back from recent highs.
Despite what had been a generally strong start to the year, major indices looked to have registered their second negative month out of the last three on the final day of February trading, with the Dow down more than 3% on the month and negative for the year as a whole.
“The latest consumer confidence survey highlighted a growing unease amongst the US population, with both the present situation and expectations declining in February,” said IG senior market analyst Joshua Mahony.
“Recent optimism over a ‘soft landing’ in the US economy has been built on the apparent strength of the US consumer spending.
“However, the survey showed a decline in the number of those planning to spend on big ticket items such as homes, autos, or holidays.
“The report provided a heads up for next week's jobs report, with a surge in those finding employment plentiful bringing expectations of further payrolls strength.”
On the macro front, America's shortfall on trade in goods with the rest of the world increased at the start of 2023.
According to the Department of Commerce, the visible trade deficit rose by 2.0% month-on-month to reach $91.5bn.
Economists had pencilled in a shortfall of approximately $91.0bn.
Elsewhere, house price gains in the US continued to slow at the end of 2022
In December, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city house price index fell at a non-seasonally adjusted month-on-month pace of 0.9% - pushing the annual rate of increase down to 4.6% from 6.8%.
Separately, the Federal Housing Finance Agency reported that in the fourth quarter of 2022, house prices in the US rose by 0.3% versus the prior three-month stretch and by 8.4% in comparison to the same quarter one year earlier.
Upon seasonal adjustment, house prices were down by 0.1% month-on-month in December - stronger than the 0.6% decline predicted.
Moving on, factory sector activity in the Chicago area slipped a tad in February, with the Chicago Business Barometer slipping by 0.7 points from the month before to reach 43.6.
Economists had been anticipating a slight improvement to 45.0.
On another note, consumer confidence slipped back unexpectedly in February as expectations for jobs, incomes and business conditions all soured, with the Conference Board's consumer confidence index falling from a reading of 106.0 for January to 102.9 in February - well and truly missing expectations for an increase to 108.4.
Finally, the Richmond Fed's manufacturing index decreased from -11 in January to -16, its lowest reading since May 2020, and the Dallas Fed's manufacturing index slipped 5.1 points to -13.5 in February - a tenth straight month of contraction in activity across Texas.
In the corporate space, retail giant Target Corporation closed up 1.01% after it topped expectations with its fourth-quarter earnings on Tuesday, partly due to improved sales over the all-important holiday trading season.
AutoZone, meanwhile, was down 3.33% despite beating earnings estimates by $2.81 per share, while Norwegian Cruise Line tumbled 10.18% after it missed earnings per share expectations by 19 cents despite revenues matching Wall Street estimates.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com. Additional reporting by Iain Gilbert.
Dow Jones - Risers
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $143.35 0.84%
Boeing Co. (BA) $201.55 0.54%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $142.13 0.49%
American Express Co. (AXP) $173.99 0.40%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $35.53 0.40%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $57.20 0.37%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $163.61 0.29%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $118.79 0.22%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $296.54 0.18%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $24.93 0.12%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $351.65 -3.80%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $106.24 -2.85%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $475.94 -1.53%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $153.26 -1.52%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $160.77 -1.26%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $231.66 -1.19%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $137.56 -1.14%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $129.30 -0.91%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $99.61 -0.84%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $48.42 -0.64%
S&P 500 - Risers
Arconic Inc. (ARNC) $26.44 19.48%
DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $38.07 10.19%
Hanesbrands Inc. (HBI) $5.68 4.03%
Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (EW) $80.44 4.01%
Perrigo Company plc (PRGO) $37.69 3.71%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $116.15 3.64%
Meta Platforms Inc. (META) $174.94 3.19%
Advance Auto Parts (AAP) $144.96 3.08%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $108.37 3.07%
Under Armour, Inc. (UA) $8.80 3.04%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH) $14.82 -10.18%
Universal Health Services Inc. (UHS) $133.57 -8.54%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $11.41 -6.48%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $351.65 -3.80%
ONEOK Inc. (OKE) $65.45 -3.67%
AutoZone Inc. (AZO) $2,486.54 -3.33%
Sempra Energy (SRE) $149.96 -3.18%
Entergy Corp. (ETR) $102.87 -3.03%
Hess Corp. (HES) $134.70 -3.01%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $106.24 -2.85%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $38.07 10.19%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $116.15 3.64%
Meta Platforms Inc. (META) $174.94 3.19%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $1,220.00 3.13%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $108.37 3.07%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $15.98 2.24%
Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $108.97 1.99%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $309.50 1.60%
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $594.29 1.51%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $199.20 1.17%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $11.41 -6.48%
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $99.59 -3.54%
Gen Digital Inc. (GEN) $19.51 -2.40%
Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $617.73 -2.27%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $20.49 -2.06%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $367.61 -1.98%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $830.10 -1.87%
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $38.94 -1.82%
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (JBHT) $180.79 -1.76%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $21.25 -1.71%